Trial opens for fallen chiefs Blatter and Platini

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football, went on trial in Switzerland Wednesday over a suspected fraudulent payment.

Former FIFA president Blatter, 86, and Platini, 66, appeared in the Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona, following an investigation that began in 2015 and lasted six years.

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The pair are being tried over a two million Swiss franc ($2.08 million) payment in 2011 to Platini, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.